No action was taken in closed session Tuesday night by the Hannibal City Council on a purchase proposal from Bill Martin of Hannibal regarding 422 N. Main St., which the city agreed to buy in October.

"No final decisions were made last night. It's still in negotiations," said City Clerk Angel Vance.

According to City Attorney James Lemon "there were some areas that they (Council) requested they (Martin) supplement with some more information and further clarification.

"The areas of clarification quite frankly center on a discussion of the (building's) proposed use and its access to the public. They want to make sure that we're looking in the long run rather than at the short run. We're trying to consider all options for the long run," added Lemon.

During the Nov. 20 Council meeting, Mayor Roy Hark stressed that if the city did decide to sell the former Murphy Motors site that it would not take less than the $220,000 it paid for the lot and building. While Lemon would not go into specifics regarding Martin's offer, he acknowledged that the city will not lose money if the decision is made to sell the property to Martin.

"I can absolutely guarantee that we're not going to agree to anything where we would take a loss," he said.

City Manager Jeff LaGarce reported Wednesday that Martin's proposal is slated to be on the agenda during the public portion of the Council's Wednesday, Jan. 2, meeting in council chambers at city hall. That meeting is set to begin at 7 p.m.

"It's my understanding that they're asking them to bring a full proposal back at the next Council meeting and that will be done in open session so everybody can see what's going on," said Lemon. "Council may go ahead and vote that night. We'll have to see what they want to do."

Martin's proposal was initially presented to the Council at its Dec. 4 meeting. However, because of the detailed information that is contained in the 20-page proposal the Council tabled the matter so that it could be thoroughly reviewed.